The White Linen Nurse eBook

Nervously the White Linen Nurse bethought her of the
brook. “Oh, wait a minute, sir—­and
I’ll get you a drink of water!” she pleaded.

Bruskly the Senior Surgeon’s hand jerked out
and grabbed at her skirt.

“Don’t leave me!” he begged.
“For God’s sake—­don’t
leave me!”

Weakly he struggled up again and sat staring piteously
at the blazing car. His unrelinquished clutch
on the White Linen Nurse’s skirt brought her
sinking softly down beside him like a collapsed balloon.
Together they sat and watched the gaseous yellow flames
shoot up into the sky.

Again the Senior Surgeon’s unrelinquished clutch
on her skirt jerked her back to the place beside him.

“I said not to leave me!” he snapped
out as roughly as he jerked.

Before the affrighted look in the White Linen Nurse’s
face a sheepish, mirthless grin flickered across one
corner of his mouth.

“Lord! But I’m shaken!” he
apologized. “Me—­of all people!”
Painfully the red blood mounted to his cheeks.
“Me—­of all people!” Bluntly
he forced the White Linen Nurse’s reluctant
gaze to meet his own. “Only yesterday,”
he persisted, “I did a laparotomy on a man who
had only one chance in a hundred of pulling through—­and
I—­I scolded him for fighting off his ether
cone,—­scolded him—­I tell you!”

“Yes, I know,” soothed the White Linen
Nurse. “But—­”

“But nothing!” growled the Senior
Surgeon. “The fear of death? Bah!
All my life I’ve scoffed at it! Die?
Yes, of course,—­when you have to,—­but
with no kick coming! Why, I’ve been wrecked
in a typhoon in the Gulf of Mexico. And I didn’t
care! And I’ve lain for nine days more dead
than alive in an Asiatic cholera camp. And I didn’t
care! And I’ve been locked into my office
three hours with a raving maniac and a dynamite bomb.
And I didn’t care! And twice in a Pennsylvania
mine disaster I’ve been the first man down the
shaft. And I didn’t care! And I’ve
been shot, I tell you,—­and I’ve been
horse-trampled,—­and I’ve been wolf-bitten.
And I’ve never cared! But to-day—­to-day—­”
Piteously all the pride and vigor wilted from his
great shoulders, leaving him all huddled up like a
woman, with his head on his knees. “But
to-day, I’ve got mine!” he acknowledged
brokenly.

Once again the White Linen Nurse tried to rise.
“Oh, please, sir, let me get you a—­drink
of water,” she suggested helplessly.